Sainsbury's is very sorry that someone at its Oxford store thought it was a good idea to display a bunch of 12 Years a Slave DVDs next to a mannequin presumably dressed to resemble Solomon Northup, wearing a torn-up shirt and black pants with a twig stuck in the pocket. Just in case you saw the movie and your takeaway… »5/21/14 3:00pm 5/21/14 3:00pm

Despite 12 Years a Slave's very serious subject matter—steeped in the most inglorious era of our country's history—and all the important conversations about race that have taken place leading up to the film's big win at this year's Academy Awards, white people still feel super comfortable making stupid jokes and puns… »3/05/14 4:30pm 3/05/14 4:30pm

When Lupita Nyong’o won Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards this week, her success inspired bunches of style shifts. Perhaps long Hollywood weaves will go out of style because of the actress' gorgeously cropped hair, maybe her gown's blue hue will be spring’s hottest new color or maybe we'll all be wearing… »3/05/14 10:40am 3/05/14 10:40am

While the rest of us were rejoicing for 12 Years a Slave's wins for Best Supporting Actress and Best Picture, Chelsea Handler was benefitting from the good news to promote Uganda Be Kidding Me, a schtick-y travelogue. »3/03/14 2:40pm 3/03/14 2:40pm

When John Ridley walked up to the stage to accept his Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for 12 Years a Slave, he walked right past the film's director Steve McQueen and the two men didn't even acknowledge each other. McQueen was noticeably absent from Ridley's speech and as Ridley walked off the stage, McQueen did a … »3/03/14 10:05am 3/03/14 10:05am

If you've been following the pre-Academy Award awards (and you believe the pre-show hype), then you know consensus dictates Cate Blanchett or 12 Years a Slave are pretty much locked down for Best Actress and Best Picture, respectively. But when it comes to two other big categories — Best Actor and Best Actress in a… »3/01/14 6:20pm 3/01/14 6:20pm

Lupita Nyong'o is continuing on her road to glory leading to the Academy Awards this Sunday. Over at MTV Style, a writer and photoshop wiz cobbled together an image of the 12 years a Slave actress wearing every color in the rainbow and it's breathtaking. Lupita's able to pull off nearly every color in the Crayola box… »2/28/14 7:30pm 2/28/14 7:30pm

Lupita Nyong’o, dressed in a fabulous white short set, stopped by The Ellen Show on Friday to chat about her spot in the Hollywood rumor mill thanks to her new It girl status. Word on the street is that Nyong’o was dating Jared Leto but then disaster struck. »2/21/14 6:45pm 2/21/14 6:45pm

Lupita Nyong'o graces the cover of the new issue of New York magazine. Love, love, love the glorious photos by Erik Madigan Heck. Inside, the profile paints the actress and newly-dubbed "it" girl as very bright, a bit circumspect, and very, very polite. »2/10/14 4:15pm 2/10/14 4:15pm

A new study says if you’re black and successful, people will probably remember you with the complexion of, say, Leona Lewis. But people are just crazy, right? Wrong. The implications of this finding, discovered by researchers at San Francisco State, is worth a RHONJ-style table flip and here’s why. »1/15/14 6:10pm 1/15/14 6:10pm

Fun party ideas for the Golden Globes include gimlets in honor of Downton Abbey and a platter of quaaludes à la Wolf of Wall Street. One thing you should definitely not do, however, is even consider touches meant to evoke 12 Years a Slave. »1/08/14 4:20pm 1/08/14 4:20pm

It was arguably a banner year for black films, with major films like 12 Years a Slave,The Butler, Best Man Holiday, Black Nativity and Kevin Hart's Let Me Explain successfully gracing the box office. But there was something missing from this acclaimed mix — black women. »12/18/13 12:40pm 12/18/13 12:40pm

I was planning to write a piece about how I loathe Martin Bashir and am not at all upset about his recent kerfluffle with Sarah Palin, which forced his MSNBC resignation. And then I watched his actual comments regarding Palin and her bright idea to compare the U.S.-China debt relationship with slavery. »12/05/13 6:20pm 12/05/13 6:20pm

At an event promoting his new movie Lone Survivor, in which he plays a Navy SEAL stranded in Afghanistan, Mark Wahlberg went off on frou-frou movie stars who compare their cushy jobs to military tours of duty. »11/13/13 8:00pm 11/13/13 8:00pm

Going insane was a luxury. It’s the going, that’s the treat. Going suggests travel, moving. There was no going. The madness was constant and still, sitting there, like a place on a map. It was where they lived, where they were from, born and bred into viscously mundane inescapable crazy. The women in the beautifully… »10/28/13 11:30am 10/28/13 11:30am

12 Years a Slave star Lupita Nyong'o, who made a documentary about albinism in Kenya: [People with albinism] "are the one group of people that unify all races. Having come to the United States — it was the first time that I really had to consider myself as being black. To learn what my race meant. Because race is… »10/25/13 9:50am 10/25/13 9:50am